‘Thana Diwas’ is usually a day or two of redressal of public grievances, where the police officials hear complaints of the general public in their respective police stations and resolve them as soon as possible. It is mandatory to resolve the complaints in the shortest possible days and senior officers review the disposal.
However, the same ‘Divas’ is held in a different manner in East Champaran (Motihari) district of Bihar. Adding more innovative elements to it, Thana Diwas here is not only about resolving problems of the people, but it is also about giving out social messages and protecting the environment. The Thana Divas here is different in many aspects. And it is SP Motihari district, Dr. Kumar Ashish, a 2012-batch IPS officer, who has introduced the changes.
In Motihari district, the Thana Divas is held in five segments with meaningful police-public discussion and participation. Indian Masterminds spoke to Dr. Kumar Ashish (PhD in French Language from JNU, New Delhi) to bring you more details about their Thana Diwas with a difference.
A DIFFERENT THANA DIVAS
Dr. Kumar Ashish explained each of the five segments of Motihari Thana Divas in detail. In the first segment, police solve people’s problems in the police stations. People come with their grievances to the station, and police officials try to solve them within 24 hours.
In the second segment, police solve problems outside, be it traffic congestion or someone uttering profanity somewhere, water logging, encroachment, etc.
In the third segment, they engage with people and show them how to be a better citizen, and how they can help the administration. “The reason is that we cannot be present at all places at all times. We also have limitations. But if people give us the right information on time, we can take timely action. Your identity will be protected. You will be helping us to maintain law and order. It will be like community policing,” the officer explained further.
AWARENESS ABOUT ALCOHOL ILLS
The fourth segment is about spreading awareness against prohibition. “We distribute a pamphlet among the people to create awareness about the problems caused by the consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants. I am happy to share that Motihari Police has punished maximum people for violating the prohibition of alcohol law. We have given sentences to more than 200 people till date.”
PLANT 3 TREES
The fifth segment is about planting saplings where they get people to plant three saplings in police stations. “After I came to Motihari in January, people started coming to me every day with their problems. From morning till evening, I keep meeting the complainants, some from far off places. I started wondering whether their problems were not getting solved at the thana level. So, I launched the ‘Police Aapke Dwar’ initiative, sending a message that we will personally go to their door and listen to their complaints in their local thana.”
The officer also incorporated his ‘Plant 3 Trees’ initiative into Thana Divas to give the message of the urgent need for environmental protection. “When they meet us on the occasion of Thana Diwas, we request them to plant trees in our presence. We tell them it is their police station, and their complaints will be resolved here, so they should protect and promote it by planting trees.”
Dr. Ashish further said that they also make the people who plant saplings resolve that they will protect and promote the trees they planted. “The officers of the police station will come and go, but the trees will always be there and will remind them of us,” he summed up.
(This is the second part of our feature on Dr. Kumar Ashish. In the first part, Going Beyond the Call of Duty to Care for Mother Earth, which was published on Earth Day 2022, we covered his ‘Plant 3 Trees’ initiative in detail. Here is the link: )
Going Beyond the Call of Duty to Care for Mother Earth
